The Doomsday Machine (episode)
The Enterprise discovers a superweapon capable of destroying entire planets, and a Commodore whose crew was killed by the machine jeopardizes the crew on a crazed mission of revenge. Summary :"Captain’s log, stardate 4202.1. Exceptionally heavy subspace interference still prevents our contacting Starfleet to inform them of the destroyed solar systems we have encountered. We are now entering system L-374. Science Officer Masada reports the fourth planet seems to be breaking up. We are going to investigate." :::(Log entry made by Commodore Matt Decker of the USS Constellation) The [[USS Enterprise (NCC-1701)|USS Enterprise]] receives a faint and garbled distress signal. It is apparently a starship's disaster beacon, but they are unable to make out any words aside from 'Constellation'. Enterprise enters system L-374 and finds her sister ship, the [[USS Constellation (NCC-1017)|USS Constellation]], a powerless wreck, drifting and abandoned. Captain James T. Kirk and a damage control party transports aboard Constellation and finds Commodore Matthew Decker, the sole survivor aboard. Decker, barely lucid, informs Kirk that something "straight out of hell" has destroyed his ship, which had been investigating the breakup of the fourth planet in system L-374. His ship damaged beyond repair, Decker beamed his crew down to the third planet, only to have the planet killer consume that planet too, killing the entire crew while Decker watched helplessly. Decker explains that the planet killer uses a pure antiproton beam as its primary weapon, and creates an interference that prevents subspace communication. Kirk postulates that the planet killer is a machine, a "doomsday weapon", a bluff, and never meant to be used. This one is roaming the galaxies, consuming for fuel everything in its path, including whole planets. Its alien makers are long since dead. Kirk and Scotty remain on board the Constellation to rig her for towing, while McCoy returns to the Enterprise with Decker. When the planet killer returns, it attacks the Enterprise, but then veers off and heads for the densely-inhabited Rigel system. Commodore Decker pulls rank and assumes command of Enterprise (using General Order 104, Section B, Paragraph 1a) over the objections of Spock. Decker orders an attack on the planet killer despite Spock's protest that its hull is made of neutronium and is therefore impermeable to attack from a single ship. Spock recommends escaping the subspace interference in order to warn Starfleet Command, but a mentally unstable Decker will not hear of it. He orders Enterprise to move in closer, and the planet killer knocks out the Enterprise's deflector shields and transporter. Decker orders another pursuit, but Spock warns him that if he does not order a withdrawl, he will relieve Decker of command using evidence of attempted suicide as proof of Decker's instability. Decker orders Sulu to veer off, but it is too late; the planet killer locks the Enterprise in a tractor beam, and begins pulling her inside. Kirk and Scotty, still on board the Constellation, manage to repair the impulse engines and recharge one of the phaser banks. Constellation distracts the planet killer, and both ships escape. Kirk contacts the Enterprise, and upon hearing that Decker has assumed command, expressly orders Spock to relieve the Commodore "on my personal authority as Captain of the Enterprise." Decker resists what he views as insubordination, but Spock is firm enough in his actions to make the Commodore step down. Spock orders Decker to be taken to sickbay under armed escort. Suffering from a mental breakdown brought on by the extreme guilt over the loss of his crew, Decker escapes custody and steals a shuttlecraft from the Enterprise, piloting it on a suicide course directly into the weapon's orifice, where he is destroyed. The Enterprise sensors detect a small drop in the power output of the planet killer. The shuttlecraft's explosion, however small, had in fact caused some minor damage to the weapon's interior. Realizing that Decker's idea, on a larger scale, might work, Kirk orders Scotty to set the Constellation to self-destruct and then return to Enterprise. Kirk pilots the Constellation on a direct course toward the weapon. He beams out at the last second, and the Constellation's engines detonate directly inside the planet killer's orifice, bypassing the neutronium hull and destroying it from within. Following the battle, Captain Kirk noted in his log that Commodore Decker gave his life in the line of duty. Memorable Quotes "We tried to contact Starfleet... no one heard – ''no one! W-we couldn't run!" "''Matt, what happened to your crew?" "Oh, well, I had to beam them down. I mean, we were dead – no power, our phasers useless. I stayed behind. The captain... last man aboard the ship; that's what you're supposed to do isn't it? And then it hit again, and the transporter went out. They were down there, I'm up here..." "What hit? What attacked you?" "They say there's no devil, Jim... but there is – right out of ''hell, I saw it!" "''Matt, where's your crew?" "On the third planet." "There ''is no third planet." "Don't you think I know that? ''There ''was, but not anymore! They called me, they begged me for help – four hundred of them! I couldn't... I-I couldn't..." : - '''Decker' and Kirk "This whole thing's incredible; a machine, a device like that – who would build it?" "We don't know; an alien race, possibly from another galaxy." "But ''why?" "''Bones... did you ever hear of the ''doomsday machine?" "''No; I'm a doctor, not a mechanic." "It's a weapon, built primarily as a bluff; it was never meant to be used. So strong it could destroy ''both sides in a war... something like the old H-bombs were supposed to be. That's what I think this is – a doomsday machine that someone used in a war uncounted centuries ago. They don't exist anymore, but the machine is still destroying." : - '''McCoy' and Kirk "Captain, the impulse drive control circuits are fused solid." "What about the warp drive controls?" "Aye, we can cross-connect the controls, but it'd make the ship almost impossible for one man to handle." "You worry about your miracles, Scotty; I'll worry about mine. Get to work." : - Scott and Kirk "Random chance seems to have operated in our favor." "In plain, non-Vulcan english, we've been lucky." "I believe I said that, doctor." : - Spock and McCoy "We're moving, and the ''Enterprise isn't. Maybe that thing will see us, and let the Enterprise go. If I only had some phasers..." "''Phasers? You got 'em – I have one bank recharged." "Scotty! You just earned your pay for the week – stand by." : - Kirk and Scotty "You said it yourself, Spock; there is no way to blast through the hull of that machine, so... I'm going to take this thing right down its throat." "This is Kirk – Matt, you'll be killed!" "I've been prepared for death ever since I... ever since I killed my crew." "No one expects you to die for an error in judgement." "A commander is responsible for the lives of his crew, and for their deaths. Well, I should have died with mine." : - Decker and Kirk "Captain, you're getting dangerously close to the planet killer." "I intend to get a lot closer – I'm going to ram her right down that thing's throat!" ''"Jim -- you'll be killed; just like Decker." "No, Spock, I don't intend to die. We're rigging a delayed detonation device; you'll have thirty seconds to beam me back to the ship." "Your chances of survival are not promising. We don't even know if the explosion will be powerful enough to destroy it." "A calculated risk, Mr. Spock." "There is one other factor to consider. The transporter is not operating at 100 percent efficiency; thirty seconds is ''very slim timing." "''A chance I'll have to take." : - Spock and Kirk "A cranky transporter's a mighty finicky piece of machinery to be gambling your life on, sir." : - Scott Background Information Cast * When James Doohan says, "Thirty seconds later... poof!", it doesn't sound like he is using his Scottish accent. * Norman Spinrad has expressed disappointment that the actor whom he envisioned playing Decker, Robert Ryan, was not cast. Ryan was unavailable due to other commitments. http://trekmovie.com/2007/02/10/spinrad-videoblog-on-history-of-doomsday * William Windom's powerful acting in this segment makes it doubly regretful that his character would not return to the show. Like Captain Queeg and his worry balls in The Caine Mutiny, Matt Decker possessively clutches the record tapes from his ship throughout his time on the Enterprise. * In an interview with William Windom, he joked that Marc Daniels, the director, didn't know what to do with the scene of Decker describing what had happened to the Constellation, so he told Windom just to "improvise", during which time the director simply left the camera running and walked out to work on something else. Windom actually made a totally-improvised ten minute speech, and, in the end, they only used about a minute and a half of it. He was referring to the laid-back style of directing used. * The three crewmen who beam over to the Constellation with Kirk, McCoy and Scott were named after three of the series' assistant directors. Washburn's namesake was Charles Washburn; Russ's was Rusty Meek, and Elliot's was Elliot Schick. *Nichelle Nichols (Uhura) does not appear in this episode. * A blooper from this episode features Leonard Nimoy saying, "If you do not veer off, I shall... blow my brains out!" Sets and props * This episode marks the debut of the very complex and re-designed engineering set. **The dilithium crystal storage units now occupy the center of the floor (complete with recycled Horta eggs); a ladder and upper level have been added into what was just a high bank of lighted panels in the first season. **The set also is entered through a short spur hallway now, rather than as a side door off a main corridor. The console across from the forced-perspective impulse engine end of the set has been replaced by a doorway and moved to the main wall to the left of the red grid. **The huge structures among which Kirk's evil self and Ben Finney once hid are not seen in detail again, but the Emergency Manual Monitor set was built on stilts on that spot, making its debut in "Mirror, Mirror". **The engine components appear and disappear as scenes dictated: they show up in "Day of the Dove" and "The Paradise Syndrome" but are absent completely in "Elaan of Troyius." ]] * The equipment Scott pulls out of the new storage area near the doorway to engineering is the same prop Spock uses in "Metamorphosis" as he works on the shuttlecraft, and which Ensign Harper uses to plug in the M-5 in "The Ultimate Computer." It is identified in The Making of Star Trek as a "Ray Generator and Energy Neutralizer." * Auxiliary Control, first seen in this episode aboard the Constellation, was not a new set. It was merely a redress of the engineering room set with a few additional walls from the briefing room added in, including the large viewing screen from the briefing room in "The Menagerie, Part I", "The Menagerie, Part II", and "Space Seed", which in turn was lifted from the bridge set used in "Where No Man Has Gone Before". * There are usually two full stations between Spock's library computer station, and the half station adjacent to the viewing screen. Yet, as Kirk and Spock walk by that area, only one station can be seen. * The picture of the starfield on the bulkhead of the transporter room makes its last appearance in this episode. Story and production * Moby Dick was one of Norman Spinrad's inspirations for the original story of this episode. http://trekmovie.com/2007/02/10/spinrad-videoblog-on-history-of-doomsday * This is the first time the Enterprise has encountered another ''Constitution''-class starship with the entire crew dead. The other two were in "The Omega Glory" and "The Tholian Web." * Footage of Scotty being tossed around engineering is stock footage from "Tomorrow is Yesterday". A console that appears only in that episode can be seen, and you can glimpse a crewman in red coveralls as well. A further clue: Scotty wears a tricorder throughout this episode. But when the old footage of him being thrown against the grating in "Tomorrow is Yesterday" is spliced in, the tricorder vanishes. * Though edged with gold, Kirk's green wraparound tunic collar lacks the black trim it will eventually have in such later second season episodes as "The Apple" and "The Immunity Syndrome". * Will Decker, from Star Trek: The Motion Picture, has been assumed by many fans to have been Matt Decker's son, although this was never officially stated. * There is a curious event in this episode that may have resulted from an unscripted ad lib by James Doohan. Just after Kirk dispatches Scott to the engine room of the Constellation, Scotty tells Washburn, "Come along, lad!" Immediately, Kirk says, "Washburn, you get in there", referring to a section of the auxiliary control room. Richard Compton (Washburn) looks genuinely surprised at the contradictory orders. * In the fight scene involving William Windom (Decker) and the security guard, the scuff marks on the floor shows that scene was obviously filmed and refilmed several times. *In most of the earlier drafts of the screenplay, Decker did not sacrifice himself, but instead survived to admit his mistakes and voluntarily retire. The core of this scene was later recycled into the ending of "The Deadly Years", where Commodore Stocker admits to Kirk that his taking command of the Enterprise was in the wrong. Effects * The year this episode was filmed, AMT produced the first Enterprise model kits. One such kit was used to make the model used for the destroyed Constellation. The decals for the ship's registration numbers are just a scrambled version of "1701." The model does not have the details of the regular Enterprise miniatures, but still looks very convincing, except at the end when it wobbles as it flies into the doomsday weapon. * Norman Spinrad was displeased with the model used for the planet killer. As he told Allan Asherman in The Star Trek Interview Book, he envisioned a doomsday machine bristling with all sorts of evil-looking weapons. * Footage of the asteroids is reused from "The Cage". * Sol Kaplan's suspenseful "countdown" music, written for this episode, was re-used (some would say overused) in many second season episodes. * In many of its profile shots, the planet killer is semi-transparent and stars show through it. This was an overlay of film footage of the doomsday machine model over an existing starfield. This money-saving technique also was used in "The Squire of Gothos", when Trelane's planet blocks the Enterprise's path. *When Kyle calls the bridge and tells Spock that the transporter is out, he sounds like he's right on the bridge, although it had been established that Kyle was operating the transporter. This is because the sound editor forgot to filter John Winston's voice in post-production. * There are 105 effects shots in the remastered version of this episode, in contrast to the 20 or 30 in an average episode. http://trekmovie.com/2006/11/20/behind-the-scenes-at-cbs-digital/ Significance and legacy * This episode was nominated for a Hugo Award in 1968 as "Best Dramatic Presentation". *The episode is constantly ranked in the top five of any "top ten" polls taken among fans with regards to their favorite Star Trek episodes. * James Doohan cited this episode for years as his favorite. Apocrypha * In James Blish's adaptation, Decker's first name is "Brand" and he doesn't pilot the shuttlecraft into the planet-killer. * According to the game Star Trek: Starfleet Academy, there is a school of thought that speculates that the galactic barrier around the perimeter of the galaxy was created to keep these planet killers out. This information is found in the library computer on the bridge. If this is true, then it is not 100% effective. * Another, and far more popular, school of thought connects these planet killers with the Preservers, an ancient race first mentioned in "The Paradise Syndrome", and may have fought the Borg as well as created the galactic barrier. This was the premise behind Peter David's TNG novel Vendetta. This method of attack used against the Borg would be consistent with that seen used by Species 8472 in Star Trek: Voyager. * "In Harm's Way", the first regular episode of the fan-made series Star Trek: New Voyages, was an unofficial sequel to this episode. That episode even had a cameo by William Windom, reprising his role as Commodore Matt Decker. * The doomsday machine appears in Amarillo Design Bureau Inc.'s Star Fleet Battles first monster-based scenario (SM1.0) as "The Planet Crusher" (or "The Creature that ate Sheboygan III"). It was a basic monster scenario enabling a beginning player to learn how to fight his starship. The monster moved by automatic rules, allowing for one person to play the scenario. Remastered Information *The remastered version of this episode premiered in syndication the weekend of , and was one of the most heavily-enhanced episodes to date. The planet killer received a much deserved update, as did its antiproton beam. The Constellation received far more detailed damage than was previously possible, gnarled warp coils visible in certain shots. The shots of the shuttlecraft leaving the bay with Commodore Decker aboard were completely re-done. Decker lifts the shuttlecraft off the deck before the bay doors are fully open, and there is a fabulous new shot of the craft (renumbered "6") from the exterior of the Enterprise. The discrepancy in relative sizes between the planet killer, the two starships and the shuttlecraft from the original version has been adjusted. *The staff of CBS Digital (creators of the Remastered FX) played a prank on Senior FX Supervisor Niel Wray by creating a fake version of the Remastered episode trailer (with a shot of the Constellation relabeled as "Consolation") and a fake version of TrekMovie.com (http://www.trekmovie.com) populated by fake comments (attributed to real users of the site) on the "mistake." The results of the prank can be seen here. Image:Doomsday end.jpg|The original planet killer Image:Constellation and planet killer tosr.jpg|...and it's remastered counterpart Image:USS Constellation.jpg|The s Constellation Image:Const DDM.jpg|A closer look at the wreckage in :The next remastered episode to air was "Amok Time". Production timeline * First draft script: * Filmed: Late * Premiere airdate: * Remastered episode airdate, . Links and References Starring * William Shatner as Captain Kirk * Leonard Nimoy as Mr. Spock * DeForest Kelley as Dr. McCoy Guest Star * William Windom as Commodore Decker Featuring * James Doohan as Scott * George Takei as Sulu And * Elizabeth Rogers as Lt. Palmer With * John Winston as Lt. Kyle * Richard Compton as Washburn * John Copage as Elliot * Tim Burns as Russ * Jerry Catron as Montgomery * William Blackburn as Hadley (uncredited) * Eddie Paskey as Leslie (uncredited) Stunts * Vince Deadrick as Decker's stunt double (uncredited) References antiproton; antiproton beam; [[USS Constellation (NCC-1017)|''Constellation, USS]]; doomsday machine; ''Einstein''; L-370 system; L-374 III; L-374 system; L-374 IV; Masada; neutronium; Rigel; total conversion drive External Links * Doomsday Machine, The de:Planeten-Killer (Episode) es:The Doomsday Machine fr:The Doomsday Machine nl:The Doomsday Machine